Top prospect immediately makes Dodgers regret promotion in awful loss to Twins

The Los Angeles Dodgers' struggles continued Tuesday with a 10-7 loss at home to the Minnesota Twins. It was their 11th loss in their last 14 games, but this one felt particularly ugly.

How ugly? Well, a ball that left Royce Lewis' bat at 58 mph resulted in three runs scored for the Twins, and unfortunately, recently promoted Dodgers reliever Edgardo Henriquez was at the center of it all.

The Twins had the bases loaded with one out in the top of the seventh inning when Lewis hit a (very) slow grounder down the first base line. Henriquez ran over to field the ball, bobbled it, and then threw to first. Well – that was his intent, anyway.

The ball zoomed past Freddie Freeman, rolled all the way into the outfield and bounced off the right field wall, clearing the bases and allowing Lewis to reach third safely. The Twins extended their lead to 9-5 before ultimately winning by a final score of 10-7.

In many ways, Henriquez's horrendous gaffe was illustrative of the Dodgers' overall performance this month. They started July 6-11 and have dropped four of their first five since the All-Star break.

“It better be rock bottom, as far as how we’ve been pitching, how we’ve been playing defense,” manager Dave Roberts told reporters after Tuesday's game (including Jack Harris of the LA Times). “As far as quality of baseball, it’s been a tough watch. It really has.”

Edgardo Henriquez immediately makes Dodgers regret promotion in awful loss to Twins

The Dodgers had just recalled Henriquez from Triple-A Oklahoma City on Monday for the first time this season. after designating Lou Trivino for assignment. Prior to his call-up, Henriquez had posted a 5.89 ERA and 1.71 WHIP with 26 strikeouts over 18 1/3 innings in 18 appearances, including two starts, for Oklahoma City.

Henriquez made his Major League debut with the Dodgers last season, going 0-0 with a 2.70 ERA and five strikeouts in 3 1/3 innings. The 23-year-old right-hander has been in the Dodgers organization since 2019, appearing in 106 games in that span. If he can't rebound quickly after Tuesday's implosion, he may soon find himself back in Triple-A.

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